Artifact VIII: Remix
Artifact: Remix
Objectives:
- Become acquainted with copyright as a historic, cultural and economic paradigm and its value and pertinence to creative works.
- Explore the changing nature of copyright in the context of “Remix Culture” and the “Fifth World”
- Examine your own and others values and paradigms of ownership and authorship of cultural media.
- Evaluate the meanings of real and fake and examine their intersection with personal and cultural identity and authenticity.
Reflection:
In my business classes, the issue of copyright law and patent infringement comes up often. I remember in my capstone class we had a term long group project that required my group to present a turn-around strategy for Blackberry. In conducting research into the smartphone industry, we found that every major smartphone device manufacturer is currently in litigation with every other smartphone device manufacture in some capacity. Everyone is suing everyone, quite literally. In fact, Apple and Samsung spend more money every year fighting litigation and initiating lawsuits than they do on R&D. That’s insane.
This brings up the complicated concept of remix culture. On one hand, copyrights and patents protect a companies intellectual property and technical processes and designs so that they can remain competitive in a free market. Without these firewalls to protect these companies, there is no incentive to create anything to sell, because someone can steal it. Without a strong incentive like profit, technological advancements don’t really happen because there is no fair competition. On the other hand, these companies work so hard to keep others from possibly using the technologies that they have already developed to act as a foundation for a more advanced technology, which inhibits the creative process and the advancement of modern technology as a whole. This catch 22 illustrates why remix culture is not a cut and dry issue.
Moving Forward:
This is the last assignment I will ever complete during my time as a student. Moving forward, I will start my new job in a few weeks, start putting money into my 401k, and hopefully live a long and happy life. Thanks UO, it’s been fun.